Various medical conditions make it difficult or impossible for some people to eat. In these cases, gastrostomy tubes are a convenient, comfortable, and effective means for delivering nutritional formulas to the body. During a gastrostomy procedure, a stoma is formed in the stomach or intestinal wall and a catheter is placed therein. Feeding solutions may then be fed to the patient through a feeding tube connected to the catheter. This process is known as enteral feeding.
To increase comfort, a number of low-profile catheters have been developed, which sit on or near the patient's skin. However, such a configuration makes it difficult to connect the feeding tube, particularly at night time or for larger patients. Because feeding can often take several hours, it is important to ensure the connection between the feeding tube and the catheter is secure to prevent leaking when a patient moves. In addition to the patient not receiving the appropriate nutrition, such leaking can cause irritation around the stoma.
Currently, connection adapters are notched or keyed such that the notches of the feeding tube and the catheter must be aligned and then twisted, or locked, into place. Such designs are not flexible to the movement of the patient and can be difficult to align in the dark. Other designs require the protrusion of a locking device from the catheter, which can decrease patient comfort and mobility. Still other designs include snap connectors, which require forceful pushing and pulling on the catheter and feeding tubes to connect or disconnect. Such force may cause irritation or removal of the catheter from the stoma.
Accordingly, the invention described herein is intended to address these and similar problems associated with enteral feeding, and more general, the delivery of medical fluids to patients.